


DtVS 2: Samwolf

by Nomad (nomadicwriter)



Series: Donna the Vampire Slayer [2]
Category: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, West Wing - Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Drama, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-10-01
Updated: 2001-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 18,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomadicwriter/pseuds/Nomad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sequel to 'Donna the Vampire Slayer'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Embarrassing Ailments

**Spoilers: ** We're heading completely AU after Buffy 5.22 "The Gift", and West Wing season two.  
**Disclaimer: **Joss Whedon owns Buffy. Aaron Sorkin owns The West Wing. I own a twisted mind and an elderly computer.

** 1: Embarrassing Ailments **

Sam Seaborn self-consciously rubbed his shoulder as he read over the speech notes one last time. The president wanted the final draft in three minutes, but he was finding it a little hard to concentrate properly.

The sudden twinges from his shoulder were pretty distracting. He wondered if he ought to maybe disinfect it, or get a tetanus shot. But he couldn't very well ask anybody. That would be _too_ embarrassing.

He wandered out into the communications bullpen and handed the notes to Toby. "There. It's done."

"And it's better?"

"It's done," he repeated.

Toby started reading, reached for a biro, and immediately started to scribble. "Okay, I'm just gonna go now," Sam decided. He wasn't in the mood for yet another argument with Toby over writing styles. Especially because he had a nagging suspicion that Toby would be right.

Again.

Sam had been off his game lately. Part of it was the revelation that vampires, demons and magic were all real. He and most of the rest of the senior staff had been plunged into that world, and then yanked straight back out of it. And now, a month later, they were all supposed to be acting as if everything was normal.

Aside from his shoulder, of course. He was just rubbing it again with a grimace as Josh burst out of his office. He frowned. "Sam? What'd you do to your shoulder?"

"Nothing," he said automatically.

Josh shrugged. "'Kay. What are you doing out here?"

"Just stretching my legs."

For some reason, that provoked a startled reaction from Josh. He suddenly grabbed the younger man by the arm and tugged him back to the office. "Hey, Donna," Sam said in passing.

"Back so soon?" she asked Josh. "Couldn't bear to be parted from me?"

"I need to talk to Sam," he said, retreating inside and shutting the door.

"What about?" he asked, massaging his arm again.

Josh leaned across the desk towards him, turning on that unnerving Josh Lyman stare. "You tell me."

"Huh?"

"You told me you were just stretching your legs. You're never just stretching your legs. Unless you're, you know, about to impart details of something incredibly stupid you've just done. So what was it?"

"Nothing!" He held firm under the gaze for several seconds. Josh just calmly waited for him to crack.

_Dammit, I work with Toby Ziegler. I should be better at facing down stares by now._

"Okay, it's something," he admitted reluctantly. "But I didn't do anything." Josh waited expectantly. "Okay, um... I met this girl in a bar last night-"

Josh straightened up, looking alarmed. "'Kay, Sam? Tell me this conversation isn't going where it sounds like it's going."

"No!" _What? Do these people think I have a _habit_ of being picked up by call-girls?_

"Then what? You accidentally told her nuclear missle codes? She turned out to be a reporter for the _National Enquirer_? She turned out to be yet another member of Leo's family he wouldn't like you hitting on?"

"No, nothing like that. She, um... She..."

"She what?" Josh demanded irritably, when he didn't finish.

"She bit me!" Sam blurted out miserably, clutching his wounded shoulder. Josh stared at him for a moment - and then burst out laughing. "It's not _funny_," he moaned despairingly.

"Oh it is. It is." Josh fought not-very-successfully to bring his giggling under control. "She wasn't like, a vampire or anything was she?"

"No. Just a girl."

"And she bit you?" Josh snorted into laughter again.

"Yeah. Is that, you know, weird?" he probed awkwardly for confirmation.

"Oh, that's _weird_," Josh confirmed. Before continuing to snigger.

"Okay, Josh. Stop that now. It really wasn't funny. And it hurt. Stop it. Josh!"


	2. A Problem Shared...

** 2: A Problem Shared... **

Josh spent most of that afternoon collapsing into sudden fits of the giggles. He really ought to stop now; Donna was looking at him very suspiciously. But every time he thought he'd got it under control, he remembered the miserable expression on Sam's face as he blurted out the details.

_Sam got bit by a girl! I love it._

Unfortunately, CJ was quick to notice his change of mood. "Okay, Joshua. What gives?"

"Huh?" He schooled his face into his most innocent look, the one that women adored. "Oh, nothing."

"Yeah, right. Tell me," she ordered.

_Dammit._ He'd forgotten that all his foolproof looks never worked on CJ.

"Look, it's just... it's really nothing." He rather spoilt that by giggling a little in the middle. _Wait, giggling? That wasn't a giggle, it was a chuckle. Giggling is not manly._

CJ was getting her 'boy are _you_ stupid face'. "What have you and Donna been up to now?"

"Me and Donna?" he retorted indignantly. "We haven't been 'up to' anything!"

Nothing at all. Nothing going on there. Definitely. Certainly.

Probably.

Okay, there'd been a couple of... moments during the stressful time of Donna's brief employment as vampire Slayer. And maybe things had been a _little_ more... cosy between them since. And maybe they hugged or touched each others' hands a little bit more often than they used to. But there was definitely nothing going on. No blurring of the lines there. And certainly nothing for CJ to get wound up about.

_Even if it was at all any of her business, which it isn't._

"Then what?" CJ wasn't going anywhere until she got an answer.

He didn't really mind. This was just too delicious to keep to himself. "It's Sam," he smirked.

"Oh, God." CJ clapped a hand to her forehead, in preparation for a monster headache. "Oh, God, don't even tell me. I don't even want to know."

"No, this is great. He met this girl last night-"

"Oh God!" CJ thumped her head against her desk. "What was this one?" she asked hopelessly.

"Nothing that'll end up in the papers," Josh assured her. "Just a little, well... kinky." He could feel those giggles - no, manly chuckles - threatening to escape again.

CJ's depression was slowly being replaced by bemusement. "Kinky?" she raised an eyebrow.

Josh was grinning and nodding like an idiot. "Apparently, in the... ahem, 'throes of passion', she, uh... bit him. On the shoulder."

CJ looked disbelieving, then started to grin too. "She _bit_ him? Sam's girlfriend bit him?" Josh nodded fervently. Then CJ frowned. "This girl... she wasn't like, a vampire or anything?"

"Nope. Not according to Sam. Just the regular kind."

"And she bit him?"

"Yup." CJ had her devilish face on now as she pushed her chair back and stood up. "Where are you going?" asked Josh.

She grinned dangerously. "Oh, I thought I'd mosey on down to communications and have a word with the Deputy Communications Director."

Josh stood up and followed. "You know, I think I might just come with you."

This was gonna be _fun_.

* * *

"Can you keep it down out there?" Sam shouted to the bullpen from his office doorway. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Hey, look who's channelling Toby."

Toby had gone off with the president and Leo, and Sam was alone in his office, supposedly working on the draft of a statement about corn crops in some out-of-the-way place. Supposedly, because he still couldn't concentrate. Although it was beginning to cool off as the afternoon wore on, he was feeling increasingly hot and sweaty.

Feverish, even. Yes, he felt feverish.

_Oh, God. Can you catch rabies from a human? Or some kind of mutant flu? Or-_

He was really regretting all this attention he'd paid to dental hygiene in the past. Sure, it might have given him a winning smile, but he could also recall all the statistics about the number of diseases that bred inside the human mouth.

Sam whimpered, and dropped his head onto the crumpled and crossed-out draft of his speech.

There was no relief to be had, however. As a twinge in his shoulder encouraged him to sit up, he spied Josh and CJ moving in on him. Both grinning widely...

_Oh great._ This_ is gonna be fun._


	3. Biting Wit

** 3: Biting Wit **

"So. Sam," began CJ ominously, drawing out his name as if it were three syllables longer.

"Leave me alone?" he tried pathetically, burying his head against his desk again. It didn't work.

"I hear you've been a busy boy," she continued, and he could hear the smirk in her voice.

"I just want to die. Can I just die now?" he mumbled into his desk.

"Feeling playful, was she?" He groaned. He should have known Josh wouldn't be able to keep this to himself for long.

Josh snorted. "Who was she, Hannibal Lecter's little sister? She didn't have a T-shirt that said 'bite me', did she?"

Sam forced himself up into a sitting position and tried blearily to focus. "She was just... a girl," he said defensively. Sitting up turned out to take too much effort, and he thudded back against the desk. "I am never dating again," he said miserably.

"See, this is exactly what happens when you're too cheap to spring for dinner." Josh was finding this entirely too damn amusing.

"Could I please have some sympathy here?" Sam pleaded pathetically. "I have a monster headache, I have a speech to write, I have- I have- I have teeth-marks in my _shoulder_-"

That was too much for the pair of them. They both burst out laughing, hugging each other because they were laughing too hard to stand up.

"Oh, I'm glad _somebody_ finds this amusing," he retorted sharply. "I am in actual pain here. I could have rabies or anything."

"Rabies?" That set CJ off again. Normally Sam loved the sound of CJ's throaty laughter, but today it was only grating on his tortured nerves.

"What kind of girl _was_ this?" Josh demanded. He snickered. "Was she a dog?"

CJ tried to thump him for that, but she was laughing too hard and missed. "I'll have you know she was extremely attractive," Sam insisted, wounded.

"Yeah? Wet nose, nice shiny coat, that kind of thing?"

"Josh!"

Josh and CJ had successfully reduced each other to quivering jellies. Sam regarded them for a few moments, then stood up, shoving his chair back against the wall. "I'm going," he announced, and stormed out.

* * *

He wanted nothing more than to go home and crash in bed, but it was still too early. It wasn't even dark out. It was still technically summer, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd left the office when it was still daylight.

Sometimes, he missed California. Like now. California had no speeches that needed writing, no pissed-off Toby, no sniggering Josh and CJ, and most importantly, no girls with some weird biting fetish.

Of course, being nice polite Sam Seaborn, he hadn't said anything. What were you supposed to say, anyway? 'Excuse me, did you mean to do that?' Or 'hey, sorry, I don't really go for having chunks of my flesh ripped out'? That was really supposed to go without saying.

"Why can't I ever meet any _normal_ girls?" he moaned to himself, as he headed down to the cafeteria for some much-needed peace and quiet.

He didn't get it. Ainsley was already there, fiddling with a hand-held fan and eating something disgusting.

"Ugh, how _can_ you?" he groaned, slumping into a seat across from her. Right now the very thought of food turned his stomach.

"I'm a growing girl. I need food," she announced.

_What is it with you? Tapeworm?_

Of course, he didn't say it out loud. No, he was Sam Seaborn, all-round nice guy and champion of women's rights.

_I hate being the nice one._

"Rough day?" she said without much sympathy, pushing aside the remainder of her meal and moving immediately on to a fruit yoghurt.

"The roughest," he agreed, sipping on his lukewarm water.

"You should try working down in that furnace," Ainsley told him. "It clunks, it clicks, it drips water, and it's a hundred and three degrees down there."

"At least it doesn't bite," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You should go home," she said, licking up the last of the yoghurt pot in a gesture he was too depressed to find fascinating.

"My country needs me," he reminded her.

"To do what? Die for it? You look like you're about to."

"Thank you, Ainsely," he called after her as she left. "You've been a real pick-me-up."

She waved in acknowledgement, and disappeared. He contemplated his glass of water for a moment, and wondered if he poured it out into a puddle on the table he'd be able to drown himself in it.


	4. A Wolf at the Door

** 4: A Wolf at the Door **

It was after eleven when Josh headed back to Sam's office for one final round of Sam-baiting. The communications bullpen was deserted; as usual, he, Sam, Toby and Leo were just about the last ones here.

He was only a few feet away from Sam's office door when he heard the crash. Suddenly feeling guilty over taunting him earlier, he ran to check inside.

_God, what if he's passed out? He looked really bad. What if we've been teasing him all day and he's really sick?_

With guilt-trip in full swing, he rushed to the door, fully expecting to find Sam face down on the floor. He wasn't quite prepared for what he got instead.

Sam wasn't in his office - but somebody was. Something, rather. A big, grey, shaggy, wolfish something. It had just knocked over Sam's chair. As he pushed open the door, it looked up, regarding him through cold blue eyes.

Josh slammed the door shut hurriedly and put his back against it. Afraid to move, he yelled for help from his first port of call in any national emergency.

"Donna!"

She had supposedly left five minutes ago - and yet she appeared magically at his call. He was beginning to think she must have some kind of crazy 'I Dream of Jeannie' thing going on. Except for the part about, well, actually following his commands.

"Josh, I'm already on my way-" she cut off abruptly as she saw the way he was splayed against Sam's door. "What?" she demanded.

"Donna, there's a wolf in Sam's office!"

"A wolf?" She looked disbelieving. "Are you sure it's not, like, you know, a chihuahua? I know what you're like with dogs."

"It's a wolf!" he insisted fearfully.

"Let me see." She pried him off the door.

"No, Donna!" he cried, trying to pull her back. "You can't go in there! It-"

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "You've seen me fight vampires, I'm sure I can deal with your 'wolf'." She did the little quote marks thing with her fingers.

"You know, that's really obnoxious," Josh observed, straightening his jacket.

Donna pulled the door open and cautiously stuck her head inside. She stood there for a long moment, then pulled back and closed the door. "There's a wolf in Sam's office," she agreed.

"Is that not what I just said?"

"I know better than to take anything you say at face value, Joshua."

He regarded the door nervously, expecting it to explode open at any moment. "How are we supposed to get rid of a wolf?"

"I don't know. The cockroach people would probably charge extra."

"You're not helping, Donnatella."

"Well, considering it's instantly obvious what you should do-"

"Yes. Yes, obviously." He drew a blank. "What should I do, Donna?"

She rolled her eyes. "Get Toby."

"Oh! Good idea."

Toby, they had discovered a few weeks ago, was not merely a bald, grumpy speechwriter. He was bald, he was grumpy, and he wrote speeches, but that wasn't all he did. In his spare time he was a Watcher; a member of a secret organisation who collected arcane information and guided the young women who were Called to serve as vampire slayers.

Even if Toby didn't have an explanation for the wolf in Sam's office, he'd probably be able to scowl at it and scare it off.

Toby looked up in annoyance at the interruption to his writing, and looked twice as irked when he saw who it was. "I was expecting Sam. I'm still waiting on that draft."

"Sam's not in his office."

"What? I saw him go in half an hour ago."

"Well, he's not there now."

"Well, where did he go?"

"You'd better ask the wolf."

"What wolf?"

"The one that's in Sam's office."

Toby stared at him for a moment. Then he raised his voice in a credible imitation of Josh's own. "Donna!"

She scurried in. "Toby?"

"Your boss is an idiot. Tell me what's going on."

She explained in neat, brisk phrases, and the three of them headed back to Sam's office. Toby took a look for himself, whilst Josh said nervously "I wonder where Sam went?"

"He didn't go anywhere," said Toby shortly, closing the door.

"What? He's still in there? I didn't see him!" He moved forward. "We have to get him out! We can't leave him in there with a wolf!"

Toby gave him a look that losely translated as 'the amount of satisfaction I would get from murdering you is growing ever closer to equalling the inconvenience it would put me to'. "Josh... Sam _is_ the wolf."


	5. Gratuitous Nudity

** 5: Gratuitous Nudity **

Josh was... well, confused seemed too small a word to cover it.

"Wait - Sam's a wolf?"

Toby rolled his eyes. "A werewolf, to be more exact. Have you - and I realise that the answer to this is almost certainly 'no' - actually looked outside recently? It's the night before the full moon."

One of those lightning-fast connections that were always going on in Josh's brain snapped into place. Okay, this one wasn't perhaps as fast as it should have been, but...

_Hey, give me a break. Werewolves?_

"Sam got bitten last night..." he said slowly. Toby fixed him with a sharp look.

"By a wolf?"

"By a girl he met at a bar."

Toby blinked. "Okay."

"And now he's a werewolf?" said Donna.

"Apparently so."

"Well, what are we supposed to do with him?" demanded Josh.

"Keeping him away from the president and Leo would seem like a good plan," suggested Toby dryly.

"What, then? Keep him locked in his office?"

"It might be best," Toby agreed, ignoring Josh's sarcasm. "He'll revert at dawn, no one else'll be here that early."

"Um, Toby?" Donna butted in. "None of these doors have locks."

"Bit of an oversight, there," said Josh. "Guess they didn't anticipate one of the senior staff turning into a wolf. Shame on them. Can't we have one put on?"

"Josh, this is the White House. Kinda tough to get permission for that sort of thing."

"So prop a chair against the door," Toby said impatiently, following his own suggestion. "We'll come by, let him out in the morning, and explain what happened to him."

"We're really just gonna leave him here?" Josh demanded, incredulous.

"You want to walk him out past security? Be my guest."

* * *

Josh arrived at the office even earlier than usual the following day. He was even more rumpled than usual, and hadn't bothered to look for a tie - Donna was bound to know where he had one in the office. Despite the ungodly hour, she was already there waiting for him.

"Have you been down to communications?" he asked.

"Yeah. The chair's still there."

"Did you go inside?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I thought I'd wait for you."

"Too chicken?"

"He turned into a wolf! I've seen movies. He might be naked in there."

Josh smirked. "You'd rather not see Sam naked?"

Donna actually blushed. "It would be... embarrassing."

"Well, that's very considerate of you, Donnatella. Would you be this understanding if it was me in that situation?"

"Hell no. I'd just march right in."

He grinned at her. "You'd like to see _me_ naked?"

"I just don't care if I embarrass _you_."

"Fine." He stood up and took one final sip from the cup of coffee that Donna had _not_ got for him, despite the unreasonable hour. "Okay, then. _I'll_ go marching down to communications to see Sam naked."

On his way out of the door, he thought about that, and poked his head back in. "That's really not what I meant, by the way."

Donna smirked at him. "Whatever."

* * *

Josh listened outside Sam's office door for growls, then knocked cautiously. There was no answer, so he pushed inside.

Sam was sitting under his desk - to Josh's intense relief, _not_ naked, but in pants and an open shirt. He was hugging his knees, and staring blankly into space.

"Sam? Sam, are you okay?"

He looked up blearily at the sound of Josh's voice. "Josh?" he said weakly.

"Sam. C'mon, come out from there." Josh took his arm and helped him up. He didn't resist the pull, and Josh could feel him trembling faintly, like a frightened animal.

"Josh? What happened to me?"

_Okay, how the hell am I supposed to deal with this one?_ "Um... remember that girl who bit you?"

Sam mustered the ghost of a smile at that. "Kind of hard to forget, don't you think?"

"Well, the evidence suggests that she might have been... uh... a werewolf."

Sam looked at him blankly for a moment. "I turned into a wolf?" he said disbelievingly.

"Uh-huh," Josh nodded. "We had to trap you in your office."

"Oh. That's why I couldn't open the door." Sam seemed a little too dazed to take it in properly. He automatically began to button his shirt, then winced and flexed his shoulder.

"Here, let me take a look at that," Josh said gently. The time for good-natured mocking was long past. He moved in closer to Sam and gently peeled back the shirt from his wounded shoulder.

He barely got time to glance at the wound, however, when the door slammed open.

"Oh, good, Sam, you're already here. Me and Ginger are here early because-" Cathy and Ginger froze in the doorway, and their eyes went very, very wide. "We'll come back later!" Cathy squeaked, and they both fled.

Josh took a moment to consider the scene. Here he was in rumpled clothes and no tie, practically nuzzling up to the shoulder of a semi-naked Sam.

"Oh, this is not good."


	6. The Start of the Affair

** 6: The Start of the Affair **

"What was that?" mumbled Sam confusedly.

Josh looked at the closed door with some dismay. "That, if I'm not very much mistaken, was the beginning of the rumour that we're having a gay affair."

"Who is?"

"Us."

"No we're not."

"Yeah, I noticed that too, Sam."

"'Cuz I'm pretty out of it right now, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember-"

"We're not having a gay affair, Sam," Josh cut him off hurriedly. He realised he was still standing practically nose-to-nose with the younger man, and took a few paces backwards. "And it would probably help our case a lot if you could, you know, get dressed."

Sam nodded, and got back to buttoning his shirt. He winced as he did so, but Josh resisted the automatic urge to offer to help.

_'Cuz you just_ know _ that if I did that, the president, Leo and the entire White House press corps would miraculously appear outside Sam's office door._

Sam finished buttoning his shirt and cast about for his tie. "We should probably, um, go explain," Josh said.

"Yeah. What're we gonna tell them?"

"Well, we're gonna- We're gonna- We're gonna hide inside this office until everyone else goes home," he decided miserably.

"It's seven o'clock in the morning, Josh."

"We can order takeout and have Donna deliver it." He frowned. "Though she probably won't bring us coffee."

"I don't think barricading ourselves in an office together for sixteen hours is really the way to go with this one, Josh."

Josh groaned, and dropped his head into his hands. "Why is my life so _complicated_?" he asked the ceiling.

"_Your_ life? Hey, you're not the one who just got bitten by a date and turned into a werewolf." There was a moment of reflective silence where they both tried to pretend that they hadn't just created an enormous problem that they really had to go and straighten out.

"Still, look on the bright side," said Sam eventually. "At least we're not _actually_ having a secret gay affair."

He considered. "I mean, from the standpoint of, well, if we _were_, everybody would have just found out, as opposed to- Look, I'm not, uh, I'm not trying to say I find the idea of, you know, having an affair with you totally hideous or anything, and um... I should really probably stop talking now, shouldn't I?"

"Better late than never," Josh agreed.

Another moment of silence. Then Sam said "You know, if I'd just interrupted somebody in the middle of what looked like- well, you know, I'd probably be wondering by now why they hadn't come running after me to explain yet."

Josh gulped. "Let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

They located Cathy and Ginger hiding in the cafeteria and looking slightly shell-shocked.

Josh launched immediately into political cover-up mode. "Okay. Um. I realise that what you just saw in there might, on reflection, have appeared to you to be... um." His fast-talking wound down just a little.

_Instruction manual, please?_

Ginger held up a hand. "It's okay, Josh," she said, in a gentle yet slightly amused tone that he somehow didn't find particularly comforting.

He kept going. "I just wanted to point out that, that anything you might have thought was going on is... not, in fact, going on."

"Okay," said Cathy, nodding earnestly. Josh wasn't sure he liked the expression on her face.

"We believe you," agreed Ginger, just as earnestly. "You don't have to explain."

"Whatever you say. We didn't see anything."

"Nothing. Zip."

"And assuming we had seen anything, we really do believe that there was a perfectly good explanation for it," Cathy continued.

"And really, you know, if we _had_ seen anything... well, we wouldn't tell anyone anyway."

"And we won't. Since, well, we didn't see it and it wasn't anything."

"And we totally believe you."

"Totally."

They both got up and scuttled away from the cafeteria area. Josh shot a glance across at Sam. "Technically reassuring news, and yet somehow... not."


	7. Fresh Doughnuts and Humiliations

** 7: Fresh Doughnuts and Humiliations **

Sam shifted uneasily in his chair, unable to concentrate. Normally had he been free at about this time, he'd go up to Josh's office to see if they could grab lunch together. Now, though, that might be a bad idea.

Or would it be worse to act out of the ordinary? Cathy and Ginger would be even more suspicious if they started deliberately going out of their way to look like they were _not_ having an affair.

As if they weren't suspicious enough already. Josh was alright, safe over in his part of the office, but Sam couldn't go out of his door without running into Cathy, or Ginger... or Bonnie, who he was pretty sure had been informed of this morning's incident by now.

By next coffee break, it would have been passed to Donna. That was okay; Donna was his friend, and besides, she would give Josh more teasing than the three communications assistants put together.

But from that unholy foursome, it was only a matter of time before the rumour leaped to Carol or Margaret... and neither possibility was at all good news. CJ being Press Secretary, Carol usually felt obliged to inform her when this sort of rumour started flying. And Margaret had a habit of suddenly blurting things out in front of Leo...

Sam picked up a pen, looked at it blankly for a moment, and seriously considered impaling himself upon it.

Two days ago, everything had been normal - or as normal as it got when you worked in the White House and you'd just found out vampires and demons were real. Then he'd been bitten by a girl, turned into a werewolf, and started a rumour about having a gay affair with Josh.

_My life sucks._

He knew he would have to go for lunch sometime, but in truth he was afraid to go outside. Cathy was scary at the best of times, and he wasn't exactly doing well on the whole connecting with women thing lately - the thought of three of them ganging up on him was quite terrifying.

The worst thing was, they weren't looking shocked or distressed at the idea such career-shattering risks might be being taken. They were _smirking_, and grinning, and tipping him winks, as if the idea of him having a gay affair with Josh was the best thing they'd ever heard.

_Come on, Sam, get it together. You can't hide in here forever._

Why not?

Good question.

_'Cuz eventually Leo will come and drag you out, and hence witness first-hand three giggling assistants playing 'I've got a secret'._

Good answer.

He steeled himself and got up to open the door. Cathy looked up and grinned widely at him. "Hi, Sam." Even the way she said his name was playfully amused.

_Don't panic don't panic don't panic._

Breathe, Sam, breathe.

Maybe he wouldn't go out for lunch after all. "Cathy, can you order me lunch? I want to work on this draft awhile."

_There? See? Normal. No werewolf bites and/or sexual experimentation going on here, thank you very much._

"Okay. By the way, that doughnut you had on your desk last night-?"

"-You ate it," he finished, smiling with relief. _Normal. All back to normal._

"Yeah. Shall I get you another one with your lunch?"

"Please." Not that he ever actually ate the doughnuts he ordered; he and Cathy had an unwritten understanding. He would buy sugary junk food and contemplate eating it, and Cathy would remove the temptation - theoretically cancelling out extra calories with extra good karma. Or that was her story, anyway. Possibly she was just greedy.

He was caught completely off-guard when she flashed him another grin. "Want me to call Josh to come join you?"

She sniggered delightedly as he blushed crimson and yanked his office door shut. Sam leaned his back against it and closed his eyes in dismay.

_Way to act like an innocent man, Sammy._

He sat down to go over the speech _again_, but he was too flustered to see straight. His cheeks were still hot with the force of the blush. _God, this is so_ humiliating.

He allowed himself to slide off the chair and curl up underneath his desk.

_I am never coming out of here again._


	8. Sammy-o and Joshliet

** 8: Sammy-o and Joshliet **

Josh could see it coming in the smirk on Donna's face. He prayed desperately that she was just delighted over some arbitrary punishment Leo had sent his way, or some carefully selected bit of trivia she'd been waiting for a chance to drop on him.

Fat chance.

She marched directly into his office and leaned across his desk to look him in the eye. He yelped and pulled back, unnerved by the sudden eye-to-eye contact.

Donna was just _too_ amused. "So, Josh... is there something you'd like to tell me?"

He considered playing it clueless, and decided that would be very much the wrong move. He took a leaf out of Sam's book and thumped his head against the desk. "Oh, God."

Donna giggled. She actually _giggled_.

Donnatella Moss was often seen to smirk. She snickered. On some deeply treasured occasions he'd heard her cut loose and let out a full-throated laugh that rivalled even CJ's.

Now she was giggling like a schoolgirl. At him.

_This_ really _is not good._

"Oh, God," he repeated. He looked her in the eye and despaired at what he saw there. "Just tell me this isn't all over the office?" he pleaded.

"If, by 'this' you mean the tragic saga of a high-level political operative's forbidden love for his fellow man-"

"Oh, God."

"-I wouldn't say it was _all_ over the office, no. I mean, naturally Cathy and Ginger shared it with Bonnie. And then they told me. And, well, Margaret was the next logical step. And then of course we bumped into Carol in the mess-"

"Oh, God."

"And I do believe Ainsley Hayes might have overheard-"

"Ainsley Hayes!" Josh jerked bolt upright in his seat. "_Republicans_ have heard this story?"

"There's only one of her, Josh. She's not the Borg."

"Where one arrives, more will follow. It's like ants. You have to stamp them out quickly, or one day you wake up and you find them crawling all over you."

"Somehow I don't think it's _Republicans_ crawling over you should worry about, Josh."

"Oh, God," he repeated for good measure. He reached across the desk and gripped Donna by the arm. "Just tell me what they're saying about us," he said urgently.

"Well, Margaret thinks it's terribly sweet... and Bonnie says she's always had her suspicions. When I left them, they were arguing about when it must have started. Ginger says the two of you've had serious chemistry all the time she's known you, but Carol thinks it can't have started 'til Sam broke off his thing with Mallory, 'cause he's far too nice to be two-timing you, even as a cover-"

Josh was staring at her, mouth agape. "Everyone really thinks we're having a gay affair?"

"Josh, everyone's _always_ thought you were having a gay affair."

"What?"

"Oh, come on. Everybody's noticed the way you two are together. This morning was just the first time your cover slipped-"

"Donna!"

She let out another burst of giggles. "Hey, Josh, see the funny side!"

"_What_ funny side?" He shook his head. "No. No. No more of this. Just tell me about Cathy and Ginger. What did they see this morning?" Dammit, now he was getting flustered. "I mean, what did they think they saw?"

Donna smirked. "See, this is why you're gonna have to let CJ field all the press questions-"

"Donna!"

She pulled her laughter under control with difficulty. "Well, according to Cathy, they turned up early because Ginger had a dentist's appointment in the afternoon-"

Josh groaned. "Donna, make a note in my diary. I am never coming to work on a day when someone's seeing a dentist ever again."

"Oh, this is even better than the secret plan to fight inflation," she assured him.

"Donna, just tell me what they said," he growled.

"Well, apparently they walked in to find the two of you-" she broke off to snort- "semi-naked and _kissing_." She raised a single slender eyebrow at him. "Kissing, Josh?"

"We were _not_ kissing!" he gasped.

"That's what Ginger said it looked like. And Cathy agreed."

"We were _not_ kissing!"

"Well then, what were you doing?"

"I was looking at his werewolf bite!"

"Oh well, that's fine then. Why don't you just tell that to everybody?"

He glared at her. "Donna, you _know_ I went to check on him after he turned into a wolf last night."

"Yes. However, I have no conclusive proof that you didn't kiss him as well..."

"Go away," he suggested pointedly. She practically skipped to the door.

It was no good. He had to call her back. "Donna..."

"Yes, Josh?"

"Do I seem gay to you?" he asked pathetically.

"Well, I don't know, but you and Sam _are_ always flirting..."

"Flirting?"

"Yeah. You're always doing it. Hadn't you noticed?"

She bounced away, leaving Josh feeling deeply depressed and more than a little disturbed.


	9. In Closets and Under Desks

** 9: In Closets and Under Desks **

Sam nearly jumped out of his skin as his cell phone went off, loudly, right next to his ear. He yelped and grabbed it. "S-Sam Seaborn?" he answered a trifle shakily.

"Sam?"

He sighed silently in relief. It was the one person he could rely on right now to not be trying to make this torture worse. "Josh."

"Sam, I think we're in serious trouble here."

"This is hardly news."

"Sam, you know how Cathy and Ginger told us they weren't going to say anything to... you know, people?"

Sam massaged his forehead. "I'm not gonna want to hear this, am I?"

"Well, apparently, we have different definitions of what constitutes 'people'."

"Oh, God." He couldn't quite muster the enthusiasm to even be alarmed... just depressed. "Who?"

"Bonnie." He nodded to himself; that was to be expected. "Donna." Well, that was Josh's problem. "Carol." _Uh-oh._ "Margaret." Double _uh-oh_. "Ainsley Hayes."

"Yah!" Sam let out a yell and sat up too quickly. He thumped his head on the underneath of the desk.

"Sam?" Josh sounded mildly concerned. "Sam, what was that thump?"

"I hit my head."

"On what?"

"My desk."

"_How?_"

"I'm hiding underneath it."

Josh was the only person he knew who could convey a smirk down a telephone line - without even having to speak.

"Josh, stop smirking. This is really not funny. Cathy's out there. She's stealing my food and making... lewd suggestions."

"Lewd suggestions?" Sam was mildly disturbed to find he could picture Josh's expression as clear as day. _God, no wonder they think we're having an affair. I need to get me a social life._

"Josh, this is serious. These people think we're sleeping together! And I don't think they're joking!"

Josh was sounding a little less amused. "Yeah. To hear Donna tell it, you'd think they've been taking bets on us since the first day of the campaign."

"But Donna knows the real story, right?"

"Yeah." He didn't much like the heavy way Josh said that.

"Josh? What the hell was that tone?"

"Tone?"

"You have a tone, Josh. Don't try and evade me, I'm not in the mood. What the hell was that tone?"

"You know, I'm beginning to realise why people think we're a couple."

"Josh!"

He heard Josh sigh. "Listen, don't worry about Donna. She was only teasing. I think," he added more uncertainly.

"Josh? What did she say?"

"She said that just because our version of events is plausible doesn't mean she buys it."

Sam groaned again. "So basically you're telling me that the people who don't know I got bitten by a werewolf think we're having a gay affair... and the people who _do_ know I got bitten by a werewolf think I'm a werewolf _and_ we're having a gay affair?"

"Pretty much," Josh agreed.

"We are so screwed," he lamented.

"Yes. And we will be avoiding unfortunate turns of phrase of that nature for the forseeable future."

"Josh, this is... they think it's funny, but it really isn't. If Leo hears about this, he's not gonna care whether it's a stupid joke or not. And if CJ gets wind of this-"

"Yeah. Which is why we need a pre-emptive strike."

"A pre-emptive strike?"

"With CJ, Sam. I'm not suggesting we invade China." He paused, and added thoughtfully "Although, as distraction tactics go..."

"You're gonna talk to CJ?"

"_We're_ gonna talk to CJ, Sam. I'm not doing _this_ one on my own."

"And you're not at all worried about what the entire assistant corps are gonna think of the two of us trouping off to see the Press Secretary together?"

"Sam, the entire assistant corps doesn't need any help with this one. We've handed them the juiciest bit of gossip in White House history. And we have to get to CJ and tell our tale before she hears it secondhand."

"We're coming out of the closet?"

"Or in your case, out from under the desk."

"Josh... you do actually remember that we're _not_ actually having a gay affair?"

"I know that, Sam. And you know that. But right now the biggest challenge of our careers is gonna be making sure CJ knows that."


	10. Knowing Grins

** 10: Knowing Grins **

Next to Leo, CJ was Josh's least favourite person to make confessions to. If getting bawled out by Leo was like being up before the principal, going to see CJ was like seeing your third grade teacher; the well-loved but often scary teacher who could manage to be amused, furious and disappointed in you all at the same time.

He strongly suspected that 'amused' was going to be the big one here. Normally that would seem like a pretty good trade-off against getting shouted at, but today he wasn't so sure.

It didn't help that he and Sam were both so utterly mortified that hell, even he would suspect them if they didn't know better. He seemed to be aware of eyes on them as they were walking together through the corridors - an awkwardly far distance apart compared to normal, their usual flow of conversation off-kilter.

_Dammit, I do_ not _flirt with Sam. I don't!_

It was just as well they _weren't_ having a secret affair, if they were both this self-conscious about the curious stares. Hell, he got flustered when _Donna_ started making double-entendres, and he and Donna...

Well, there was absolutely nothing going on there, either. But it was a conspicuously different kind of 'nothing going on' to the one between him and Sam.

"I'd swear there are more assistants in this place than usual," he muttered to Sam, tight-lipped. It seemed like every corner they turned they'd come upon Cathy, or Ginger, or Bonnie... standing around completely innocently with just the slightest hint of a knowing grin...

"I know. I think they're cloning them," Sam grated. And on a normal day they'd go off to some crazy conversation about clones and technology and sci-fi films off that, one of those convoluted discussions like he had with Donna.

_Oh God, I talk with Sam the way I talk with Donna?_

I do not _flirt with Sam!_

Much to his chagrin, Carol kept shooting them sympathetic looks as they lurked outside CJ's office. _Carol knows,_ he remembered from talking to Donna. Then he shook himself.

_The story, Josh. Carol has heard the story. She doesn't_ know. _There's nothing_ to _know. Get a grip._

But then CJ appeared in her doorway, and he forgot about straightening his thoughts out, and started looking for an escape route. CJ took one look at the pair of them fidgeting there, and closed her eyes in silent despair. "Why don't you come in, boys? Don't take a seat. I strongly suspect there'll be blood shed before this is over, and I'd rather it wasn't on the furniture."

As they quaked their way inside like mice hypnotised by a snake, Carol gave them a surreptitious thumbs up and mouthed 'good luck!'.

Josh would have preferred a suit of full-body armour and a riot shield.

* * *

"So let me get this straight." CJ broke off to guffaw loudly. Josh's adoration of her bubbling laugh was definitely beginning to wane. "For want of a better term," she added, smirking. She turned to Sam. "You. Were bitten by a girl you picked up in a bar."

"Yeah," said Sam weakly.

"And now you're a werewolf."

"Yeah."

"And Josh went to check on you in your office this morning."

They both nodded.

"Where he found you in a state of undress."

"My shirt was undone," Sam hastened to defend himself, blushing furiously.

"He moved towards you to examine the bite scar on your shoulder."

They nodded again.

"At which point, Cathy and Ginger entered the room."

Josh winced at the memory.

"And what Cathy and Ginger saw was the pair of you, semi-undressed, pressed up against each other in the early hours of the morning."

Josh closed his eyes, and blurted it out before he lost his nerve. "Donna said they thought it looked like we were kissing."

"_What?_" yelped Sam in distress. Apparently Cathy hadn't seen fit to furnish him with that little detail.

Josh kept going, voice doing that getting very high thing Sam had called him out on before. "-And now they've told Donna and Bonnie and Carol and Margaret, and then Ainsley overheard, and probably loads of other people know by now, and how come you never told us everybody in the office thinks we're gay?"

CJ took one look at the expression on his face, and started to shake with uncontrollable mirth. They waited for her to pull herself back together. "Oh, that," she dismissed. "It's kind of a running joke. Hardly anybody ever took it seriously." Her expression suddenly clamped down into 'boy am I pissed' mode. "Until now. Do you boys understand that I'm _very_ annoyed at you? I'm going to be very annoyed. Just as soon as I stop laughing-"

The peals of throaty laughter that rang out threatened to shake the entire West Wing.


	11. Conversation Under CJ's Ceiling

** 11: Conversation Under CJ's Ceiling **

"Well, that went well," groaned Josh. Sam couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or despair.

The two of them were sitting side by side in CJ's office, staring at the ceiling. They'd been given strict orders to "Stay!" while CJ went to talk to people. After a brief panicked session where they ascertained that 'people' meant those assistants who'd been gossiping and did not in any way involve Leo, they agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the brief respite from smirks and stares. Then something Josh had said to CJ finally sunk in.

"Josh?" he asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah?"

"What did you and CJ mean about everybody thinking we're gay?"

Josh appeared to agree that staring at the ceiling was a good way to have this conversation. "Donna told me. Apparently people think we... you know. Flirt."

"Flirt?" He cast a shocked look over at Josh, and then hurriedly snapped back to inspecting the light fittings. "We don't flirt."

"I know."

A brief silence.

"We don't, do we?"

"'Course not."

Silence.

"Of course, even if we did, it wouldn't actually mean anything."

"No."

"Since we have absolutely no intention of... um, having an affair with each other. And are both not gay."

"No. I mean yes. Um. Whatever the appropriate answer to that statement was - I meant that."

"Good. 'Cuz I have absolutely no desire to have an affair with you."

"I hear you."

"In fact, I feel I can be quite emphatic about my lack of desire."

"Yeah."

"Categorical, even."

"Okay."

More silence. Unfortunately, Sam's babble impulse wouldn't let it stay that way.

"Which is not to imply, you know, that's there's anything wrong with you."

"I didn't think you were."

"It's just that I'm not... you know. I just don't... you know." A beat. "Which is not to say you're unattractive, obviously you're a very attractive man, and... and I am just digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole here, aren't I?"

"Ayuh."

He just couldn't seem to help himself. Nervousness and a spokesman's instinct for explaining himself were a deadly mix.

"Josh... I... um. I... Forget it."

"Okay."

"I, um... I just wanted to say, you know... if, you know, if I was ever gonna have a secret gay affair with anybody - which I'm really, really not intending to-"

"Yeah."

"This is the point where I shut up, isn't it?"

"I think that point was two paragraphs back, but okay."

The silence stretched out for far too long. Finally... "Josh?"

"No."

"No, what?"

"Just no. I'm commandeering this conversation. You will speak no more. You will be speechless. And I think you will find yourself exceedingly grateful to me when you wake up tomorrow morning."

Josh thought for a moment.

"On second thoughts, I think maybe I should be speechless too."

Sam became very interested in a crack in the corner above CJ's desk.

* * *

They didn't get to hear the results of CJ's spin control just then, because something came up and they spent the afternoon in a strategy session with Leo. Sam and Josh spent most of the next two hours avoiding eye contact and flinching whenever Margaret came in to hand Leo papers.

Fortunately, Margaret was quirky enough that any odd expressions she might have been shooting their way went completely unnoticed.

Sam stumbled back to his office and collapsed there with a groan. CJ followed.

"I'm guessing leaving the two of you alone in my office wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, huh?"

"CJ! We're not-"

"From an 'embarrassing the hell out of each other' standpoint, I mean," she hurriedly corrected.

Sam shot her his bleariest look. "CJ. Two nights ago a perfectly nice girl I met in a bar bit me. This morning, I woke up naked in my office and coughed up a hairball. Then Josh came by and somehow managed to convince the entire secretarial staff of the most important office in the world that I'm sleeping with him. And now I think he thinks I have a crush on him."

CJ barely contained a laugh, but he appreciated the effort it took to rein it in. "Awkward conversation, huh?"

"Sometimes it's hard to strike a balance between refuting and causing offence."

CJ hesitated, and then gave him a sympathetic hug. "I know you're having a tough day, Sam. It's nearly over."

He sighed. It was nearly over.

Except for the niggling little detail of what he was going to do tonight, when he turned into a wolf again.


	12. Casual Remarks

** 12: Casual Remarks **

"Toby! I need help."

"On the Mandino speech? I know. Have you ever actually _heard_ of grammar?"

"_Toby_! I have to get out of here before it's dark. I'm gonna turn into a wolf again!"

"The way things are going, I can't see that would have much of an effect on the quality of your written output."

"Toby!" Sam sighed, deeply depressed. "Isn't there some way I can keep this from happening?"

"I'm not an expert on werewolves. I don't remember reading anything in the literature about preventative measures."

"So, what? I'm just supposed to go home, lock myself in, and hope I don't shred too much furniture?"

"You could try taking some kind of sedative, I suppose. It's hard to know what kind of dosage would work on a wolf, though."

"I should ask CJ. She's the wolf-lady," Sam said sarcastically, remembering the saga of Pluie. "Or- hey! What about the guys in Sunnydale? D'you think they'd know?"

Toby shrugged. "They have resources at their disposal I don't. Also time. Something I'm rather lacking in, since I appear to be doing your job as well as my own."

Sam was too tired to deal with those kind of digs. Besides, he had an uncomfortable feeling they weren't entirely unfounded. Not that he didn't have very good reasons for being out of sorts...

"D'you know how I could get in contact with Giles or somebody?"

"We have these things called telephones, Sam. People who are doing their jobs occasionally speak on them."

"Do you have a number?"

"Ask Donna. They contacted her last time."

"Great!" Sam was delighted to actually have a course of action to take. "I'll go ask her."

It wasn't until he was halfway across the bullpen towards her that he remembered exactly why he'd been studiously avoiding the area around Josh's office.

* * *

"Sam!" Donna smiled brightly at him. Donna had always been friendly towards him, but this time there was a mischevious glint in her eye.

Uh-oh.

_Pick on Josh. I'm small potatoes. Pass me over in favour of making fun of Josh. You know you want to._

"Uh, D-Donna," he stuttered nervously. "Um... do you have a telephone number for, um, people?"

"People?" she repeated, amused. "Anyone in particular, or just general people? Looking to be fixed up, Sam? Are you and Josh breaking up already?"

"Donna!" His jaw dropped in shock. He knew Josh could put up with a whole different level of the embarrassment factor from his assistant, but even so...

_I am so red. Oh my God, I am so red. I'm just gonna_ die.

And oh God, those two minor staffers over there were watching with interest. Had they just had their attention snagged by his shout of alarm, or had the story already spread beyond CJ's efforts to contain it...?

Donna obviously took pity on his blazing face, and smiled at him again. "Seriously, Sam. What people?"

He was torn between trying to be vaguely circumspect and not sounding like he was discussing a secret affair with his best friend. "You know, Sunnydale people. About my... thing."

_And I'm just not thinking about how that might sound if they're listening in. I'm just not._

"Oh! I, um... I could probably find you a number for Willow. It'll take a while, though."

Sam looked around nervously, as if he could somehow see the outside world through the walls. "I'm not sure I have a while."

"You should go home," she said, looking concerned. He was startled to realise that she reminded him of Josh, in that respect; that startling ability to go from outright teasing to deep concern in nought point four seconds.

_Holy God, I'm seeing Josh everywhere. This is_ so _not good._

"I guess I'll have to, but..." He squirmed. "It'll look... odd."

"Don't worry, Sam. We'll keep Josh on display so no one thinks you've snuck off home early to resume this morning's interrupted passions."

"Donna!" he gasped.

"Channeling Josh, there, Sam? You two are spending too much time together." Sam nearly died of fright. It was Leo, doing his trademark sudden materialisation out of nowhere.

_Times and places you don't want your coworkers to sneak up on you, part two._

Not to mention 'innocent remarks you _really_ don't want your boss to make'. Leo couldn't... no. If he'd had the slightest inkling of what was flying round the White House assistant corps right now, he and Josh would have spent the last four hours in Leo's office, having the last vestiges of their will to live hammered out of them. Which made that casual comment...

_About a billion times worse, actually._

Especially since Margaret, Nancy and the president were all standing with him.

_Just kill me now._


	13. Coffee and Cover Stories

** 13: Coffee and Cover Stories **

"Leo," he said, with a smile that felt false on his face. "Mr. President."

_That's me, good old smilin' Sam. God, I hate my life._

"Ah, Sam. Waiting for Josh?"

Okay, entirely innocent comments from the president were no fun, either. "Uh, n-no," he stuttered. "I just wanted to ask Donna for something." He had the uncomfortable feeling his cheeks were once again blazing.

Leo gave him an odd look, but obviously decided he could care less about what was bothering his staff. "Have you got the final draft on the Mandino thing?"

"Toby's polishing it now," he announced briskly, relieved to be back in safer, more professional waters.

Was Margaret grinning at him? Was that the tiniest hint of a smirk he could see at the corners of Nancy's mouth?

He tuned back in to Leo. "-the trade unions thing?"

Leo had just asked him what he was working on now. "A-actually, I was just going home," he stammered.

"Already?" His boss sounded incredulous. 'Already' was about three hours after normal working professionals had left their offices. Not to mention dangerously close to sunset.

"I, um... I'm not feeling so good," he admitted. Well, that was nothing but the truth.

"You are looking a little peaky there, Sam," the president agreed amiably. "I think there's something off in those salads they have in the mess. Nancy brought me one of those earlier." He shot the junior staffer a wounded look.

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

"CJ was telling us about how you were this morning," Margaret volunteered.

_Oh, God._ Cover story. CJ hadn't got around to briefing him and Josh on it like she'd promised.

He settled for a noncommittal "Yeah". And no blushing, dammit.

_I will not blush. I will not blush. I will not-_

Fortunately, Margaret had never had any trouble carrying on a conversation without external input. "Apparently he was shaking like a leaf," she explained. "Spilled coffee all over his shirt - Josh had to help him get dressed."

Sam should have been relieved, but somehow he wasn't. There was something just a fraction off in Margaret's tone, something in the flicker of a look Donna and Nancy exchanged... CJ had sold the assistants an official cover story, and they'd defend it to the hilt if asked... but what they giggled over amongst themselves was an entirely different story.

Leo pulled an expression only he could get away with - equal parts concerned and pissed off. "Sam, why the hell didn't you say something? You know you're useless when you're in this state."

"So Toby tells me."

"Go home, Sam," Leo said dismissively, and then he and the others walked off.

_Thank God._

He turned a slightly resentful eye to Donna. "Nice to see you helping me out of that awkward situation there, Donna."

"You did fine," she said, with a slight smirk. "Don't worry. Leo and the president are clueless. The story'll never make it that far."

"It shouldn't be making it anywhere! It's not true!"

Donna simply quirked an eyebrow at him.

"C'mon, Donna. You _know_ Josh and I aren't sleeping together," he reasoned.

"I _assume_," she corrected. "I have only extrapolation to support that theory one way or the other. And you both seem awful touchy-"

"Donna!"

"You really are sounding like Josh there," she observed. "You should do something about that. People will talk."

Sam said a quick goodbye and fled, making a mental note to be more sympathetic next time Josh grumbled about the underhand tactics his assistant was using on him.

* * *

"Donna!" Josh yelled, as soon as he hit the bullpen. Much to his annoyance, this time she failed to materialise. "Donna!" he tried again.

"Heard you the first time," she said, not looking up.

"And yet you didn't answer."

"And yet you didn't take the hint."

"Donnatella, are you quite clear on the fundamentals of the boss-subordinate relationship?"

"Yes. You shout and make irrational demands, I use my psychic powers to determine what you _actually_ want and thus prevent you from getting fired for general incompetence."

"And you never bring me coffee."

"You're learning." _Now_ she looked up, and there was a devilish grin on her face that he had learned to dread. "Talking of boss-subordinate relationships, Sam stopped by just a moment ago-"

"_Donna_!" This was harking back to the mortifying days following what he had come to think of as the Falling Asleep On Donna's Couch Incident. He wondered if he should be concerned about his subconscious assigning capital letters to that.

Josh yanked open his office door, as he could remember having done on many a similar occasion. "Donna. Inside."

* * *

Previous Part  
Next Part


	14. A Lovely Couple

** 14: A Lovely Couple **

"Donna, I really _don't_ need this kind of hassle right now."

"You should've thought of that before you kissed Sam," she smirked.

"I didn't kiss him!" he objected loudly. She grinned.

"Did you know your voice goes kinda high when you're being defensive?"

"I'm not being defensive!" Josh tried to drop the pitch on that one and didn't quite succeed. "Donna, c'mon," he tried more evenly. "You know me. You know Sam. I'm not sleeping with Sam."

"So the two of you keep repeating. Repeatedly. So much so that it's totally suspicious."

He was too flustered even to call her on the 'repeating repeatedly' line. "Donna, if I was sleeping with _anyone_ round here-"

_Okay,_ that's _a sentence I don't know how to get out of._

"-It wouldn't be Sam," he finished lamely.

For a second they exchanged a look that he couldn't quite put a name to. Then Donna said, more softly "Josh, relax. CJ's given you a cover story. It's in hand."

"But people are still talking!"

"They're joking, Josh. They know neither of you actually have a life. You're not having an affair - you wouldn't have time. Unless you actually did it here. Which would be-"

"Twisted?" he suggested, with a pained expression.

"-Impractical. I mean, Sam's office has too many windows. And you couldn't do it here. Not with me and CJ this close. We'd hear... noises. These are just some of the many, many reasons why nobody would buy the idea of you two having an affair. Would you like me to continue?"

"I'd much rather you stopped."

"Josh, they're just joking. It's a bit of fun. They don't mean any harm by it."

"That's easy for them to say," Josh said, a little bitterly. "All they've got to do is make some little joke outside CJ's office when Danny Concannon's sniffing around-"

"Josh, contrary to what you may think, people other than you have brains. Some lowly assistants do, even. They also have this thing called 'discretion', which I guess we can forgive you for being unfamiliar with."

"Okay, so all of a sudden I've gone from stressed-out boss who needs to be reassurred to advantage-taking despot who needs to be brutally slapped down?"

"You're funny like that," Donna agreed. "I think it's multiple personality disorder."

"Oh, great, another personality disorder to add to my ever-expanding list." Josh regretted that slightly bitter line as soon as Donna's wounded expression registered. He shook his head in about as close as he normally got to apology. "It's been a long day," he said, rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah, well; Sam's has been longer. You should go talk to him."

"I really shouldn't."

"Come on, Josh. Going out of your way to avoid a guy you normally spent about eighteen hours a day with is hardly gonna help your case."

"Neither is the fact that Sam currently can't even _look_ at me without going luminous pink."

Donna snickered. "Okay, Josh, what did you say?"

"What did _I_ say?"

"Come on, Josh, I know the way you like to put your foot in your mouth. I bet you said something you shouldn't."

"It was Sam, actually," he defended hurriedly.

_Damn. I'm fairly sure I shouldn't have admitted that._

Donna's grin widened. "Okay, what did _Sam_ say?"

"Nothing. Well, nothing important." He squirmed under her expectant gaze. "He just... you know how Sam loves to babble when he's stressed. First he's making his feelings very clear, and then he's worried that he's offended me, and all of a sudden it's just... too much information."

"What did he say?" she demanded gleefully.

Dammit, now he was beginning to blush, too. "He just wanted to assure me that I'm a very attractive man. Which, hey, we all knew already, right?" When in doubt, go for egomania.

Donna, sadly, refused to be lured onto an oh-that-Josh-and-his-monster-ego riff. "Sam thinks you're a very attractive man?"

"_Don-na,_" he objected, squirming.

"You should ask him out."

"Donna!" She giggled delightedly at his outraged response. "Donna, why are you doing this to me?" he pleaded pathetically.

She grinned. "You're totally cute when you're really embarrassed."

He couldn't help it; he started to smile in return. Leaving himself nice and neatly open to being perfectly shot down.

"So's Sam. You make a lovely couple." She gave a last triumphant smirk and glided away.


	15. Rapid Exits

** 15: Rapid Exits **

"What are you doing with Sam?"

Josh jumped a mile at the unexpected voice from behind him. "Nothing!" he squeaked defensively.

Toby glared. "Well, you should be."

"E-excuse me?" he stuttered.

"It's nearly full moon," the communications director scowled. "He'll change again tonight, and tomorrow. Something has to be done."

"Oh! I thought you were- I mean, I-" He stuttered to a halt, not wanting to explain himself further if there was the slightest chance the rumour hadn't spread this far yet.

Fortunately, he was talking to Toby. "Do you really think I care? Shut up and come with me."

Josh felt a certain amount of relief as Toby led him towards Sam's office. They'd be safe from the rumours with Toby playing chaperone. The assistants couldn't possibly believe anything was going on with him in there. Unless they thought... no, not even Donna or Margaret's mind was twisted enough to have gone there.

He rather wished his own hadn't.

_Oh, this has not been a good day._

Sam yelped and jumped as Josh came in, relaxed as he saw he had Toby with him. Well, that was a definite bit of role reversal there.

"I have to get home!" Sam whimpered, panicked.

"So get up and go. Leo gave you permission."

"He did?" asked Josh. That had to be a first.

"He thinks I'm sick. Part of operation cover story," Sam elaborated. "Toby, what am I gonna do? I'll wreck my apartment if I turn into a wolf there. And what if I bust out? I'm pretty sure that'll void my security deposit."

"True." Toby could probably have cared less about Sam's security deposit, but 'White House Staffer Keeps Wild Animal in Apartment' was not really the administration's favourite headline. "We'll need to tie you up; chain you to something. Josh can stay the night to keep an eye on you."

Josh exchanged a wild-eyed glance with Sam. "Yeah, 'cause that's _exactly_ what we both need right now," he observated caustically.

"What?" snapped Toby irritably. Josh nudged Sam, but he just stared plantively, like a rabbit on the highway watching an approaching tanker truck.

_Dammit, why is it always_ me _who has to do this?_

"Um... well... This morning, I went to check on Sam after he'd just changed back, and, uh, Ginger and Cathy happened to walk in and, uh... misconstrued."

"Misconstrued?"

"Yes." He tried to avoid catching Sam out of the corner of his eye, not least because one glimpse of his friend's furiously blushing face would be enough to set his own off.

Toby blinked at him. "There was... misconstruction that involved... the two of you, and Sam not being properly dressed?"

"Yes." Turned out, he didn't need to look at Sam to start himself off.

There was a very odd expression on Toby's face. Indeed, if the face had belonged to anybody else but Toby Ziegler, one might have considered it the expression of somebody about to burst into a fit of the giggles.

"And what have you been doing about this... misconstruction?"

"Talking to CJ," Josh said smartly. For once, he knew the right answer.

"Getting things... straightened out, as it were?" said Toby, with barely a quirk of the eyebrows to accent his choice of words.

"Also blushing furiously, and hiding from the support staff," Josh confessed.

"CJ's given you a cover?"

"It's not a cover!" Sam burst out plaintively. "It's true!" He reconsidered. "Well, it's not. But it's not covering up what they think it is!"

By this stage, Toby was openly smirking. "Quite."

"But anyway, the point is, I can't go home with him," Josh jumped in before things could devolve any further. "Oh - but you could go," he suggested.

"I wouldn't dream of coming between the two of you," Toby said dryly.

"See, it's people with your twisted sense of humour that get us into this kind of mess."

"No, I think you'll find it's people with your incredible talent for gross stupidity. Go home," he snapped at Sam.

"On my own?"

"Unless you want to make the front page of the _National Enquirer_, yes."

"But what if I-?"

"Sam, to be frank, I'd rather you were caught keeping a wolf in your apartment than sleeping with the Deputy Chief of Staff!"

"I'll go now," Sam decided, and exited rapidly.

"That's not fair, you know," Josh protested automatically.

"What isn't?"

"What you said. It shouldn't be that big a deal if two male staffers want to sleep together."

Toby fixed him with a level gaze, and just the tiniest hint of a smirk behind his beard. "Josh, is there something you need to tell me?"

"I'll go now," he suggested, and ran for his life.


	16. No Bad Thing

** 16: No Bad Thing **

Josh stared moodily at his office ceiling. He wished he had one of those little rubber balls Toby had to bounce off things. He was in the mood to throw something.

There was a knock, and Donna breezed in without waiting. "Did Sam go home?"

"Donna-" he began warningly, but she held up a little scrap of paper.

"I've got a phone number he was asking for."

"Oh." It never ceased to amaze him how Donna could instinctively tell when it was okay to mock him, and when it was time to be sweet and supportive.

"You're worried about Sam, huh?" she guessed, seating herself on the edge of his desk

"I hope he got home okay. I wish I could go check on him."

"You should."

"Donna-"

"No, I'm serious." Indeed, she had her Donna-being-serious face on. "It's stupid to not see your best friend just because of this kind of rumour. It shouldn't matter what people are saying; it shouldn't matter even if it was true."

"But it does matter, and I'm the Deputy Chief of Staff for a president who's under attack from all sides, and I can't go see him."

Donna sighed. "Politics sucks," she commiserated. That was enough to make him smile.

"Funny point of view for somebody who trekked halfway across the country just to offer themself up as my new assistant."

"Oh, like you were my first choice."

"Like anybody else would have taken you?"

"I think that sort of level of desperation for an assistant says more about you than it does about me."

"_My_ desperation? You practically begged me to hire you."

"Begged? The only begging involved was your pathetic attempts to inveigle me into bringing you a cup of coffee."

"'Inveigle'? Expanding your vocabulary, there, Donna?"

"Deceive, inveigle, obfuscate."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't you ever watch the X-Files?"

"Oh no. I have a life."

"No, Joshua. You have a job. There is a difference."

"Like what?"

"Life implies socialising. Dating. Going places. Seeing people."

"I see people!"

"You see the people you work with, Josh. In fact, you see so much of them that people think you must be having sex with them."

"_Don-na_," he objected, which was as good a way as any to avoid wondering whether she was talking about this thing with Sam... or something else.

"You should go see him," she repeated. "Check if he's okay."

"As I recall, it was that line of reasoning that got me into this mess in the first place."

"No, I think that started when you kissed him."

"Donna!"

"Cathy said you kissed him!" she insisted.

"Cathy lied!"

"Why would she do that?"

"Cathy was misinformed. She didn't see what she thought she saw. _Really_," he insisted, when Donna gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Okay." But she was still looking at him oddly.

"What?" he demanded finally.

"What what?" Donna hedged.

"What's that expression?"

"What expression?"

"On your face."

"Nothing."

"Donna-"

"You would tell me, wouldn't you?" she burst out suddenly.

"Tell you what?" he asked blankly.

"If you were really having an affair with Sam."

"Donna!" He was genuinely taken aback.

"I mean, I'm your friend. We- You could tell me, couldn't you? If there was anything like this, you could tell me about it."

Josh relaxed a little, and gave her his warmest smile. "I'd tell you, Donna. If there was anything to tell, I would tell you. Which is how you know there's really not."

"So you're really _not_ having an affair with Sam?"

"No," he said, with a wry smile.

Donna digested that. "Well, have you considered it?"

"What?"

"You should think about it. The two of you would be good together. You're very compatible."

"He's a guy!"

"That's very narrow-minded of you."

"Donna!"

"I'm just saying," she shrugged.

"Well, stop it."

"You're mighty defensive for somebody who's supposedly completely disinterested, Joshua."

"Donna, you already tried to throw me at Joey Lucas. Don't start doing it with Sam."

"I have to throw you at people, Josh. You'll never get anywhere if you're left to your own devices."

"Oh, I get there in the end. I just move very slowly." He gave her a cautious smile. "But that's no bad thing, is it?"

Donna hesitated, then started to smile in return. "No. That's no bad thing."


	17. The Night Shift

** 17: The Night Shift **

"So what was this telephone number?" he asked Donna suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You said you had a phone number. For Sam."

"Oh! Oh, um, he asked me if I could find a way to get in contact with the people in Sunnydale."

"About his werewolf thing?"

"Yeah."

"Well, um, maybe I should do that." He glanced at his watch, then remembered that it sucked. "D'you think it's too late?" he asked Donna.

She rolled her eyes at him. "They kill vampires for a living, Josh. I'm thinking they work the night shift."

"Point."

Donna was already reaching for the phone. "Want me to dial?"

He pulled a face. "Donna, I know how to use a telephone."

She looked sceptical. "Then why do you have me?"

"A question I have asked myself many, many times." He snatched the phone off her, and peered at the scrawled number on the slip of paper. "Is that a seven?"

"No, it's a nine."

"Oh. And that's a three."

"It's a five."

"And that's-"

"Just give me the damn phone." As the phone on the other end rang, she pulled a face at him. "Distinctive penmanship, Joshua."

"Shouldn't that be penwomanship?"

"I'm for equal rights, Josh, not anal retentivity."

"Retentivity? Is that a word?"

"So much for the 'seven-sixty verbal, baby'."

"Give me that phone."

There was a sudden clunk as it was picked up, and then a female voice said "Magic Box; your one stop spot to shop for all your occult needs."

Josh blinked for a minute. "Well said," he said finally.

"Thank you."

He couldn't quite place the voice; he didn't think it was Willow. "Um, is that Dawn?"

"No, it's Buffy. Who is this?"

He was a little taken aback, although he supposed he shouldn't have been. After all, why wouldn't you expect a phone to be answered by somebody you'd helped raise from the dead? "Oh! This is, um, this is Josh Lyman. From the White House."

"Oh! Um, hi. Uh, nice to hear from you."

"You're sounding... better."

"Than dead, you mean?" she asked, a quirk of humour entering her voice. Josh was glad she couldn't see him flush.

"Um, yeah."

She took pity on him, and rescued him. "What can I do for you? I mean, I'm guessing you're kind of busy to be making social calls."

"Ah, yes. I was wondering if you people knew anything about... werewolves?" It didn't matter that he was talking to someone he knew for a fact was a vampire slayer; he still felt silly saying it.

"Who got bit?" she demanded instantly.

He smirked. "Sam."

Buffy thought for a minute. "The pretty one, right?"

"No, that was me," he answered automatically. "Okay, that was Sam," he relented. He was just glad Donna couldn't hear both sides of this conversation. She had enough ammunition for a pretty extensive blackmail campaign as it was.

"Oh, well, um, what do you need to know? We do know a bit about werewolves. Willow used to date one."

"Really? Where is she now?"

"He," Buffy corrected. "Um, I don't know. He kind of went off travelling. Willow might be able to contact him. She knows spells and stuff."

"Would he know how to stop a werewolf from, um, werewolfing?"

He winced, but she seemed unfazed by his mangled English. "Um, yeah. I remember he came back to town to show us he could do that. Except it didn't work around Willow, 'cause of all this stuff with strong emotion or something, so he had to leave again."

"But it'd work for Sam?"

"Yeah, I guess. If he doesn't get too stressed out or anything."

"I'll keep him out of meetings with Republicans," Josh said. "What's this guy's name?"

"Oz."

Josh blinked. "Is that it?"

"Yup. I mean, that's all we ever called him. He _has_ got a real name, I suppose. Will could probably tell you."

"Not much use to me, if he's on the road," Josh admitted. "Any idea where he is?"

"None at all. He could be close to you there in DC, for all I know. I'll get Will to contact him."

"Thank you."

"Any time. And, you know, thanks for bringing me back from the dead and all."

"You're welcome," said Josh, with some bemusement.

"Well?" demanded Donna, as soon as he put the phone down.

"They're sending a guy."

"What guy?"

"Oz."

"Oz?"

"He's a werewolf."

"And he'll be able to help Sam?"

Josh could only shrug. "I hope so."


	18. Cowardice in the Face of Interns

** 18: Cowardice in the Face of Interns **

"Josh!"

"Donna?"

In a little touch of role-reversal, Josh came scurrying back from the corridors to where his assistant sat in his office.

"Did I give you permission to be in here?"

"Did I ever show any signs of caring?"

"I could fire you, you know."

"I'm still impervious."

"Not if you were sneaking around in my office without permission. You could be stealing state secrets."

"Josh, all the state secrets are in my filing cabinet. The only secret in your office is that little packet of chocolate chip cookies you think I don't know about in your desk drawer."

"Hey!"

"Relax, Josh, I only eat them when I'm mad at you."

"Well, that just explains why I never seem to have any. What did you want, Donna?"

"Oh! I just got buzzed by the gate. There's a guy here to see you and Sam."

"What guy?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm guessing it's our new friend Oz."

"Already? That was quick."

"As compared to what? The usual arrival time for werewolves? I didn't know there was an industry standard."

"Don't just sit there and mock me. Go get Sam!"

Donna rolled her eyes again. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you're still avoiding each other?"

"Must you question everything I do?"

"Yes, 'cuz everything you do is questionable."

"Get Sam."

"Coward."

* * *

Sam stumbled through the corridors feeling like he was only half conscious. Despite his best efforts to lock himself in last night, he'd come to naked in the middle of a trashed apartment. He had no idea if he'd slept at all in wolf form, but he certainly didn't feel rested.

Toby and CJ had covered for him as best they could in Staff, but what with the yawning and the studious avoiding of Josh's eyes, Leo couldn't fail to have noticed something was up. Sam only prayed he didn't quiz Margaret about it; for all CJ's damage control, it would only take a limited number of Leo McGarry stares before the original story came out.

Even now, there were smirks across the bullpen as he arrived at Josh's office and rapped on the door. Instead of inviting him in, Josh wisely came outside.

"What's up, Josh?" he asked, feeling all eyes on him.

"There's a guy here to see us. Donna's gone down to have security let him in."

"What guy?" he frowned.

"From, you know, California."

"Calif- oh!" Suddenly he got it. "About my thing."

"Yeah. Come on. We're gonna meet him for lunch."

Sam winced internally as a few interns and junior staffers eyed them speculatively. It just seemed impossible for him and Josh to do _anything_ without it looking suspicious.

"Donna coming with us?" he asked nervously.

"Seems like a good idea," agreed Josh rapidly. He'd noticed the looks as well.

"This is so, so bad," Sam moaned as they made their way down to the gate. "This is so bad it makes being a werewolf seem totally minor."

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault," Josh objected.

"Well, actually, if you hadn't dropped in on me-"

"-Cathy and Ginger would have found you half-naked, cowering under your desk."

"As opposed to finding me half-naked with a male coworker draped over me?"

"I was not draped! There was no... draping... of any kind."

"Josh, it's not _me_ you've gotta convince."

It was almost a relief to have the distraction of getting down to security and looking for Donna. The guards there nodded and called them 'Mr. Seaborn' and 'Mr. Lyman' - something which never failed to annoy Josh.

"I have a name, you know. Is it hard to remember? Josh. Why can't people call me Josh?"

"'Cuz they're under the impression you're somebody they should be respectful to?"

"Well, why do they think that?"

"It's a mystery to me."

Donna should have been easy to spot with that striking white-blonde hair, but there was always a bustling crowd here, trying to convince security that yes, they _did_ have the right clearance to be allowed in. Sam was glad his high-level position allowed him to pretty much walk straight in.

Finally, he spotted Donna standing talking to somebody by the security desk. The crowd shifted, and he saw a short young man who was practically the poster boy for 'college dropout'. His spiky hair was a slightly unnatural shade of yellow-orange, and he slouched casually in baggy jeans and a T-shirt advertising some band called _Dingoes Ate My Baby_. No wonder security had buzzed up.

"The famous Oz, I presume?" he said lightly.

_Oh, I got a bad feeling about this._


	19. Sundae Afternoon

** 19: Sundae Afternoon **

Josh and Sam made their way through the crowd to Donna and the spiky-haired young man. He was gazing around the place with an expression of mild curiosity.

"Oz?" Josh asked him. The boy nodded and smiled at them.

"I'm Josh Lyman. This is Sam Seaborn." They both shook hands with him.

"Hi." He said simply.

"Um... we should probably do this somewhere else," Josh said. "Donna-?"

"You're clear until two o'clock," she anticipated him effortlessly.

"Thanks. Um... where should we take this?" he asked Sam.

"What about that coffee place we went before? What was it called? The _Oasis_?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Away from the political crowd, right?"

"Well, I was thinking more about the choco-mint-fudge-banana-whip-sundaes, but okay."

Josh rolled his eyes. "You're like a four-year-old, you know that? You're just a great big overgrown four-year-old. I can't take you anywhere."

The security guards politely pretending not to eavesdrop seemed far more amused by their bickering than Josh's words warranted. He felt his stomach lurch.

_Oh God, not security. Tell me it hasn't spread to security._

"Let's get the hell out of here," he decided quickly.

Donna turned back. "I'll just go work on-"

Josh grabbed her by the arm and tugged her along after him. "Oh no you don't. You're coming with us."

"Josh!" she objected.

"I'm not going out to lunch with Sam and a strange guy on my own," he hissed.

Donna smirked evilly. "You want me to play chaperone?" she asked, in an entirely too loud tone of voice.

"_Donna_!" They fled.

* * *

They took journey in Oz's van, a battered old vehicle covered in stickers for various bands. There was a guitar and an amplifier in the back, plus various pieces of mystical paraphernalia Josh didn't want to examine too closely.

"This your first time in DC?" he asked Oz, by way of polite conversation.

"Yeah."

He shrugged across at Sam. Their new friend was not exactly the talkative kind. He didn't seem either stupid or surly, but it was as if he was entirely too relaxed to go to the effort of stringing whole sentences together.

Josh had chivalrously allowed Donna the passenger seat - after a swift kick to the shins to help him on his way - so he and Sam were squashed up against all the junk in the back. Normally, that wouldn't have been such a hassle, but it was extra awkward bearing in mind they were both studiously avoiding physical contact.

_Just in case, you know, Donna's got a hidden camera about her person somewhere._

He wouldn't put it past her.

They settled at the table they'd used before, and Josh snagged a waitress to order coffee - he knew by now not to bother asking Donna. Sam insisted on having his stupid sundae, and Oz had one as well.

"I don't drink coffee," he explained laconically. "Makes me hyper."

Josh found that a little difficult to picture.

The young man lounged back in his seat, then screwed up his face in a frown. He sat up sharply, sniffing. Josh was startled by how suddenly his posture changed into something altogether more... feral.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Willow," said Oz, sniffing again, and twisting around in his seat. "She was here... she sat here?"

"That was weeks ago!" exclaimed Sam, wide-eyed.

"I'd know Willow anywhere," he said, looking suddenly melancholly.

Josh exchanged looks with the other two. "You can _smell_ her?"

Oz shrugged fluidly. "It's a werewolf thing."

Sam stared down into his banana-whip-sundae. "Well, this is all very... disturbing."

Josh turned back to Oz. "Buffy said you knew how to, um, contain your werewolf side?"

"Yeah," he said, taking a spoonful of sundae. "I went to Mexica, Romania, Tibet... met some monks. It's a whole chanting thing."

"Chanting?" Sam looked pained. "Great. Yet another thing for the communications staff to walk in on."

"Oh, you can just tell 'em it's to clear your writer's block," shrugged Josh. "They know you're weird like that."

"It's not so much chanting as... chilling out, you know?" interjected Oz. "Meditating. You gotta relax yourself."

They all looked at him, and wondered if he could get anymore relaxed without sliding off his chair.


	20. Dangerous Women

** 20: Dangerous Women **

Despite his dubiousness about the idea of meditating and chanting, Sam was feeling much better as he and Josh and Donna strolled back to the West Wing. Finally, he was starting to get some control of his life back.

"See, this is good. This is what I need. Stress relief," he explained to Josh. "This could have been so much easier. If you hadn't managed to- urk!"

He'd nearly walked straight into Ainsley Hayes. As she recognised who it was, her face contorted with suppressed amusement. "Sam!" she said. Her eyes flickered over to his companions. "...and _Josh_," she added, with a certain amount of glee.

"And Donna! And Donna!" interjected Josh hurriedly, pointing urgently at his assistant.

"I'm the chaperone," Donna said, with a grin at Ainsley.

"Donna!" the two men howled in perfect chorus.

"You boys are spending too much time together, you know that?" Ainsley said to them. She grinned wickedly. "Or so I've heard..."

"You heard nothing!"

"You heard wrong!" Once again, they spoke in tandem.

"Here's a tip from your lawyer, Sam," smirked the republican, patting him on the shoulder (fortunately, the uninjured one). "Just try to stop doing that, and if anyone asks... deny everything."

"But there's nothing-" Sam objected urgently.

"Yeah. Exactly like that. You'll do fine." She smiled at the pair of them. "And may I be first and foremost in extending, to you, my congratulations." With an evil flick of the eyebrows, she turned and practically skipped away.

Sam turned around, and thunked his head against a handy wall. "Why does this happen to me? What is it about me? Is there something about me?" He sighed, and slumped against the wall. "Women hate me. It's the only explanation. I'm never dating again. I'm giving up on women."

Donna smirked. "Just as well you've got your secret gay affair with Josh to fall back on."

"_Donna!_" Perfect stereo. She smiled sweetly at the pair of them, and bounced triumphantly off after Ainsley.

Sam sighed again, and twisted round to rest his back against the wall. "How do they do that?" he asked Josh plaintively. "They always seem so sweet and cute and innocent, and then all of a sudden-"

"Boom," agreed Josh succinctly.

"Women."

"Yeah."

They stood for a minute in a moment of manly empathy. And then remembered that they really shouldn't be doing that.

"Um. It occurs to me that we're standing here together in a quiet corridor miles from where we work."

"Yeah. We gotta stop that," agreed Josh. They hurried in the direction of their offices.

They had the misfortune to pass Bonnie on the way, walking along memo in hand. She greeted the two of them automatically... then turned, and gave them a tigerish smile.

"Well, hey..." she drawled. "You boys go to lunch together?"

"With Donna!"

"We had a meeting." Again with the speaking in chorus. _Must. Stop. Doing. That._

Bonnie grinned, and flickered her eyebrows at them. "Whatever. Hope you had fun." As she left, there was a triumphant swing to her walk that was becoming depressingly familiar.

"I hate this!" Josh suddenly burst out, a few yards further along.

"Hate what?" asked Sam. There seemed like such a long list to choose from.

"All these secret affairs. First it was Donna, now it's you... every damn week I'm supposed to be having a secret affair with somebody. It's all secret affairs and no sex!"

"Well, don't look at me."

Sam sighed as they approached the bullpen outside Josh's office. "You know," he reflected, "not having a secret gay affair turns out to be even more difficult than actually, well, having one."

Josh sighed. "Still, it's got to get better, right? I mean, it's not like we're gonna, you know, do anything. It'll go away."

"Yeah," said Sam. "Yeah," he said, more confidently. This was cool. This was okay. The assistants would find a new piece of gossip to get attached to. It could only be a few days before Josh managed to do something to get the whole Josh/Donna rumour mill started up again. Or Margaret would bring the White House to a screeching halt with revised calorie counts for the apple pies in the mess.

He nodded to himself slowly. This was all gonna fade away into nothingness. He'd received some lessons in how to control his inner werewolf, and that was the main thing. It was only gossip, after all.

_It's okay. It's in hand. Life is cool. The worst is over._

Like magic, Leo appeared in the nearest doorway. "You two. My office. Now."

_Of course, I could be wrong._


	21. Excruciating

** 21: Excruciating **

Josh's knees threatened to buckle under him. _Oh, God, no. Don't let it be what I think it is. Let it be... hell, let it be_ anything. _Just not_ that.

Leo was doing that truly evil thing he did where he just looked at them neutrally and waited. Josh stared at somewhere beyond his left ear, and tried to decide whether the awkwardness of shuffling closer to Sam would be mitigated by the benefits of being within elbowing distance.

Finally, Leo said "Care to explain what's going on?"

"Sir?" blurted Sam, completely forgetting informality in his nervousness.

"Oh, cut the crap, guys," Leo said angrily. "I'm not completely blind."

Josh fought not to break down and confess all. If Leo had held off for a millisecond longer, he wouldn't have succeeded.

"Now, I don't know what's got into the pair of you, but it's pretty clear that neither one of you's got their mind on their work. So would one of you boys care to enlighten me to exactly what's going on here?"

Josh reluctantly decided that collapsing on the floor and crying "Oh, thank God!" would probably not be well received.

_He doesn't know. God exists, the world still spins, and Leo doesn't know. All is right with the universe._

Fortunately, while Josh was busy giving thanks and wondering if he could rearrange his schedule to start attending Temple again, Sam was covering their asses.

"I'm sorry, Leo. It's me. I've- I've had a lot of stuff going on. Personal stuff. I- It's taken a while to sort it, but I've got it licked now." He nodded slowly and gave Leo his most sincere look. "I'm back on board."

Leo shuffled papers for a minute, then nodded in return. "You'd better be. Okay." CJ or the President might have pressed for him to open up, but Leo, like Toby, would rather not know.

As they were turning to go, Leo cleared his throat and said "Josh? Hang back a minute, would you?"

Josh wheeled around obligingly. "Leo?"

"We're putting some polls in the field about the gun thing."

"Okay."

"Your friend Joey Lucas is gonna be back in town."

Josh blinked, but nodded. "Okay." Right now, he'd take Donna throwing him at Joey Lucas if it meant an end to Donna throwing him at Sam.

Leo shuffled papers a little longer. Then, to Josh's surprise and nervousness, he got up from the desk and started to pace. He was silent for a long moment, looking at the floor.

"Leo?"

Leo stopped pacing, facing away from him. "Josh. Um... I've been hearing... Um. Is there anything...?" He broke off, and shot the younger man a somewhat helpless look.

Josh felt his entire body freeze up in panic and alarm.

_This is not happening. Please, God, tell me this is not happening._

* * *

An agitated Sam was lurking outside, waiting for him. He took one look at the expression on Josh's face, and blanched.

Fortunately, Margaret was nowhere to be seen. Sam pulled Josh aside, and said with wide eyes "Josh, did he ask you about-?"

"Yeah," said Josh. He felt like his face had frozen into the sort of expression you got when your parents started talking about sex.

Sam kicked at the carpet awkwardly for a moment, and then blurted "How'd it go?"

"Besides being excruciatingly embarrassing for both of us?"

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him we were very happy together and considering buying a beach-house on the East Coast. What d'you _think_ I told him?"

Snapping at Sam, however, brought no relief. The writer was wearing his kicked puppy expression, the one that made him look about four years old.

Josh sighed. "Look, I told him you were feeling really ill, you got shook up and you spilled coffee on yourself. I had to help you change your shirt because your hands were still shaking, and that's how the whole stupid rumour got started."

Sam nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Yeah," said Josh, a little sickly.

Sam blinked. "Not okay?" he asked nervously.

"It's just... I'm not entirely sure he believed me."


	22. The Grateful Dead

** 22: The Grateful Dead **

Sam sat in his darkened office, legs crossed, trying to clear his mind. Meditation was harder than you would have supposed. Especially with Toby continually bouncing those damned rubber balls off the-

_Focus. Calmness. Relaxation._

Oz claimed to have learned this technique from a group of monks in Tibet. It was all very well for him - he was only two steps above catatonic at the best of times. Sam, on the other hand, was naturally highly strung. It came from spending most of his hours in the West Wing, not to mention continually drinking coffee.

_Calm. Focus. Relaxat-_

Ah, hell.

He got up, and headed back over to the desk to re-read his speech. His muse of inspiration had finally returned to him that afternoon, and he was reluctant to put it aside now he was writing again... but the moonrise was dangerously close.

Sam made a few quick amendments, shook himself, and went back to sitting on the floor.

Okay. Deep breaths.

_Calm. Focus. Relax-_

"Sam!" It was Cathy. She came in, and blinked at him. "Happy down there?"

"Yes, thank you," he said, staying where he was with his legs crossed. She was going to think he was insane no matter what he did - he might as well avoid adding 'jumpy' to the equation.

She blinked again, but shrugged. "Okay. The President wants to see you about that thing with Ericson."

"Okay." He got up and headed down to the Oval Office. However, when he got there, the door was closed.

"He's on the phone with Jordan at the moment," Nancy told him in passing.

"Okay." He took a seat. They were _really_ going to have to do something about a replacement for Mrs. Landingham. Grieving or not, the President had to have a secretary.

He started to grow nervous as the minutes ticked away. He really didn't have much time until his transformation was due - and how he could possibly know if any of these preventative measures were working until after the fact?

Since he was sitting here doing nothing, he might as well do it properly. After a quick check to make sure there was nobody about, he straightened out his posture, closed his eyes and began to breathe.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Calm. Peace. Relaxation. Calm. Focus. Peace. Calm-

"Sam?"

He jolted out of it with a start and looked up into the amused face of the President.

"Yah! Mr. President." He scrambled awkwardly to his feet.

"Am I keeping you awake?" the President smirked at him.

"Ah, no sir."

"Oh? Then what was that just now?"

He weighed up the alternatives, and decided he might as well try the truth. "I was, uh, meditating."

"Meditating."

"Yes, sir."

"I see. For any particular reason, or...?"

"It was recommended to me by a friend, Mr. President. As a way of relieving stress." Well, turning into a wolf could technically be considered stressful...

"Oh yes? And what mediation model do you use? Buddhist?"

"I'm... not entirely sure, Mr. President. He said he learned it from Tibetian monks."

"Ah." The President nodded wisely. "Very famous for their philosophy, the Tibetians," he added, slipping into Trivia-face. "Have you read the Book of the Dead?"

"Not recently, sir, no."

Bartlet struck his 'dramatic oratory' pose. "And as we stand on the edge of darkness, let our chant fill the void that others may know; In the land of the night, the ship of the sun is drawn by the grateful dead."

Sam blinked. "The Grateful Dead, sir?"

"Yes, Sam, the grateful dead. Do you have a problem with that?"

"If the ancient Tibetians were fans of the Grateful Dead, who am I to argue, sir?"

"Who are you indeed? And now, Sam, if you'd like to step inside the Oval Office, we can have a nice long discussion about Zen philosophies and the benefits of mediation."

So much for any chance of getting out of the Oval before the moon rose.


	23. Transcendental Meditation

** 23: Transcendental Meditation **

Joey Lucas was _grinning_ at him.

It wasn't a normal grin, either. It wasn't a 'You're Josh Lyman, cutest ass in the White House and I kind of like you' grin. It was a 'You're Josh Lyman, cutest ass in the White House, and I've heard you're sleeping with Sam Seaborne' grin.

Josh was fairly sure that was a class of grin that hadn't existed until two days ago. It certainly existed now. He'd been seeing it a lot, lately.

_She knows,_ he thought, as she walked into the room.

_She doesn't know,_ he decided a few moments later.

_She knows,_ he thought, as she gave him a smile with what seemed like a little bit too much amused sparkle in her eyes.

A few minutes further in, and he thought he caught Kenny smirking at him.

_Kenny knows._

Oh, he was not having a good day.

As the two of them were finally leaving his office, he could bear the suspense no longer. He beckoned Joey back, _sans_ interpreter. She gave him that eloquent curious look she was good at. "Okay, Joey, I just wanted to say, um... I'm glad you're on the case with this."

She smiled at him.

He got it out quickly. "Anyway, it's good to have you back here again, I'm really happy to see you, I'm here if you need anything, and whatever you may have heard, I am _not_ having a secret gay affair with Sam Seaborne!"

Joey raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not?"

Josh closed his eyes, slowly. "Nobody told you this, did they?" he said, feeling the last bit of sanity he had left threatening to snap.

Joey looked amused. "I needed to be told?" she pronounced carefully.

"I, um, it's just, um- forget I mentioned it, okay? Really. Please?" He didn't like the way she smiled at him.

"Okay," she said, and caught up with Kenny. He watched them leave, hands flying rapidly as they conversed, and wondered uneasily what the sign language for 'secret gay affair' looked like. Josh rested his folded arms against the wall, and buried his face against them.

"Keeping yourself busy, Joshua?" CJ enquired, coming up behind him.

"Digging my own grave," he said, words muffled by the cloth of his suit jacket.

CJ smirked. Josh pulled away from the wall, sighed, and sat down heavily. "This has not been a good... year," he finished. "Millennium, even. Yes, I was having a much better time last millennium," he muttered to himself.

"I don't know," said CJ thoughtfully, perching on the desktop beside him. "In a way, I'm almost glad this happened."

He shot her a look. "Good, 'cuz that's exactly the reaction you want from your Press Secretary."

"I'm not _your_ Press Secretary," she reminded him. "And if I was, I'd be saying this is a good thing."

"A good thing how?" Josh demanded.

"A good thing, because it draws attention away from you and Donna."

"There is no me and Donna!"

"And if it there was any chance of it staying that way, I'd be a happy lady."

"CJ-"

"Can it, Josh," she said, shooting him her patented 'I can't believe you're coming to me with this crap' look. "I know the two of you have always been... quirky, but you can't argue since this whole vampire slayer thing came out, there's been an unprecidented amount of... snuggling... between you two."

"Donna's not the Slayer anymore, CJ. And I have been snuggling with nobody. Not even, contrary to popular opinion, Sam!"

"You know, you really have to do something about that whole thing where your voice goes high under pressure."

He scowled at her. "Do you not have work to do?"

"Nope," she said, cheerfully swinging her legs. "Not a thing."

"Then why are you still here?"

"Waiting for Sam."

"He's in his office, isn't he?" Josh grinned. "Practising his transcendental meditation." They'd clued in Toby and CJ about the latest news on Sam's werewolf status.

"No. The President called him into the Oval Office."

"_What?_" Josh jumped up, alarmed.

"Relax, Josh. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Yeah." He could hear the uncertainty in his own voice. "I mean, he's listening to the President, right? That's practically a trance state right there."

He hoped.


	24. Spirit of the Wolf

** 24: Spirit of the Wolf **

Sam felt oddly light-headed. Perhaps it was the fact that the moon had risen, and he hadn't changed. Perhaps it was the fact that all that meditation had made his brain feel somehow echoing and empty. Perhaps it was the fact he'd just sat through forty-five minutes of Philosophy 101 with Professor Bartlet.

The wolf in him had not been unleashed with the rising of the moon - and yet he was conscious of it there inside him, prowling around. It made him feel strangely... fierce. Powerful.

He even moved differently. He felt light on his feet, fluid. Right now, he wasn't the Sam Seaborn who tripped over boxes and fell off boats. He was wolf-Sam.

Perhaps the change in him was even on some level visible. There were eyes on him that for a change didn't feel amused but intrigued. Some nameless girl from the intern pool met his eyes and he smiled at her; a wicked, wolfish smile that was worlds away from the sweet Sam Seaborn beam. She flushed scarlet and practically fled.

It was odd; the wolf inside him was caged and itching to get out, and yet at the same time he felt more at home in his own skin than he ever had before. His senses reached for new horizons, and he felt like he could outrun cars and dodge bullets. He felt dangerous. Invincible.

He walked back towards his office, except he didn't really walk... he prowled.

_I like this,_ he thought, with another wolf smile. _I like this a lot._

* * *

Josh felt about ready to collapse with relief when he saw Sam. There he was, walking down the corridor, human as ever.

Or not, quite. There was something different in the way he moved... Beside him, Donna sucked in a breath.

"What?" Josh demanded.

She was looking at Sam a little oddly - a speculative sort of look that Josh didn't much like at all. "Joshua Lyman... did you teach that boy to swagger?"

"What?" he said, a little too sharply. "Hey, _I_ don't walk like that!"

But Donna had put her finger on it. Perhaps it wasn't quite a swagger in Sam's walk, but there was something subtle about it that said he owned the place. For possibly the first time in his life, Sam Seaborn was looking utterly at ease in his surroundings, and, frankly, extremely cool.

Quick on the heels of his automatic 'I don't do that!' was the thought _Hey, does Donna think I look like that?_ The warm fuzzy feeling that thought mysteriously gave him was even enough to cancel out the mildly disturbing realisation that Sam was looking... well, sexy.

_Entirely objective assessment there,_ he scrambled to reassure himself. And he wasn't the only one making it. The bullpen seemed to have magically sprouted hordes of female secretarial staff who weren't usually there. They were all watching Sam, and if they were busy wondering if he was really gay, it wasn't for the gossip potential.

Embarrassment apparently completely forgotten, Sam sauntered up to the two of them and grinned. It was a feral expression that reminded him of Oz in the coffee shop earlier that day. Josh could swear he heard one of the gathered assistants _growl_.

Josh felt nervous under the weight of all those eyes, for all that they weren't focused on him. Sam giving him a grin like that was _not_ good. He wanted to tell Sam he should stop it, but stop what? _'Stop looking so attractive'? Way to pump up your defence, Joshua._

Instead he said "Are you feeling okay?"

"Never felt better," said Sam, and even his _voice_ was different, lower and ragged-edged. He casually laid a hand on Josh's shoulder, the kind of unconscious physical gesture that was second nature to Josh himself, but utterly unusual for Sam.

"Sam!" he hissed, pulling back. So much for fighting the rumour mill.

Sam shrugged fluidly, and smirked. _Smirked?_ Then he turned round and raised his hands. "Ladies! People! Could I have your attention, please? Josh and I have some things to say."

There were a few startled raised eyebrows at that. Feeling like a rabbit caught in the headlights, Josh suddenly glimpsed Cathy in the crowd. And Bonnie. _And a few million other people._

He tried to shrink down inside his shirt collar and hide.


	25. Better

** 25: Better  **

The assembled crowd were looking at them with curious eyes, but Sam was unflustered.

"Could I have your attention, please?" he said again, though he already had it. He spotted CJ and Toby joining the back of the crowd, slightly bemused expressions in place.

Acting on a sudden impulse, Sam hopped up to stand on Donna's desk. It was an easy, lightly attempted motion, and one that would have ended in him falling painfully and embarrassingly a few hours earlier. But not the way he was now.

Right now, he was Sam the wolf. But he was also Sam the speechwriter. And here and now, perhaps for the first time, the confidence to speak flowed as easily as the words.

"It's come to my attention," he said, softly, "that certain rumours have been flying about." His eyes glided across the assembly, and a few people blushed. He met CJ's slightly worried gaze, and gave her a little flash of his newly discovered wolf-smile.

"Now, rumours are fun," he said, hopping down from the desk to walk amongst the crowd. "Rumours are great to listen to. Rumours are even better to spectulate on.

"But rumours are _not_," he said pointedly, "harmless. I write for a living. I know the power of my words. But you have to ask yourself if you know the power of yours."

He turned his cool gaze on Bonnie, who looked away.

"Now, it might be the greatest bit of gossip that you've ever heard that the Deputy Chief of Staff is having an affair with his best friend. It might even be true; you're in no position to know." His heightened senses picked up the slightly strangled sound Josh made at that; he didn't have to turn to see Donna laying a restraining hand on his arm.

Sam spotted Cathy in the crowd, and wove his way over to her. He laid a casual arm over her shoulder, something he had never done before, and leaned in close to her ear to continue speaking. "The thing about rumours, see, is they have a way of spreading." He pulled away from her, and turned back to the crowd.

"First Cathy knows and Ginger knows, and that's okay. And then Bonnie knows and Donna knows, and that's okay. And then it's Margaret and it's Ainsley and it's CJ and it's that new girl who always gives you a smile when she brings the coffee, and you know what? That's still okay. But it keeps spreading, and it keeps moving out, and then sometime it's not okay."

He turned back, and started moving back towards Josh. "Is it fair that it should even _matter_ what you say? Of course it's not. Is it fair that even a gesture between good friends can be misinterpreted and used against them? Is it fair that even if it _was_ real, it would be called wrong? No, it isn't.

"Rumours are light and sweet and harmless. But rumours can be twisted into something harder, and darker, something that can bring good people down for no good reason."

Sam made it to Josh's side, and casually slipped his arm around his shoulders. "This is my friend Josh. Now, he's not my boyfriend. But if he was, should we be punished for that? No, of course not."

He ran his gaze over the crowd, who were by now looking decidedly chagrined. Donna, gazing at the two of them, seemed just about ready to burst into tears. "That's why we're here, people. We're here to make things better for the world, for everybody. That's _why we came to this place._ We're here to change the world. And we're not gonna listen to rumours. Because we're better than that."

He gazed at Josh, who was smiling back at him; triumphant in the power of Sam's words, the way they were when the President delivered them. "We're better than that. And we're gonna make the world better than that."

And then, right there in front of God, CJ, the White House assistant corps and everybody, he leaned across and very gently kissed Josh on the lips. And then he turned around and silently walked out.

_Feeling like a wolf, hey. I could get used to this._

**The End**


End file.
